Template copolymerization of methyl methacrylate and styrene on poly(methyl methacrylate)

Abstract

The radical copolymerization of methyl methacrylate and styrene using syn-poly(methyl methacrylate) (M͞_V = 98,890) as template in dimethylformamide (DMF), at 60° for 150 minutes results in an alternate copolymer, as evidenced from NMR spectroscopy. Yiscometric measurements have shown that complexation between template and oligomer of syn-PMMA is maximum at template/copolymer ratio of 1:1 and the time of complexation is about 9 min. The average molecular weight (M͞_V) of $ughter copolymer is not identical to that of template because of chain transfer reaction to template. The template effect and average molecular weight' (M͞_V) of daughter copolymer are direct functions of concentration as well as M͞_V of template. The energies of activation for template and blank polymerization are 46.0 and 64.0 kJ mol^-1 respectively. The system follows Mechanism II, as evidenced from effect of an analogue and dioxane.